The White Witch

This is a poem I wrote recently.  It's a bit of an inside joke between me and a friend (long story), and I wondered what you guys would think about the actual poem? 

The White Witch

Her pure white heart froze long ago,
Left for dead out in the snow.
The storm raged on, the frost seeped in--
The heart should never love again.

Whence she woke, gathering up her skirts,
The White Witch settled down to work.
She built a castle made of ice
And stayed there away from prying eyes.

Upon the great ice gate she drew
A warning that proved tried and true:
"Enter not for fear of shame
And curses rained upon your name."

Meanwhile, in the Upper East Side
A girl set out for Low West Side.
Her mother packed her basket, wished
Her well, and blew her a kiss.

A storm blew up, as it often had
When the Witch was feeling bad.
Going was hard on the little girl,
Fighting the wind the howled and whirled.

The small girl came with hands outstretched,
To touch the words the Witch had etched.
"Please let me in. It's cold out here!"
So innocent; she knew no fear.

At her smile the gates burst apart,
Giving the Witch an awful start.
"Stay away, you little beast."
She could not move, could not speak.

"Thank you so for letting me stay--
Here, try this.  I've brought it all this way."
"What sorcery, what spell is this?"
"Silly, that's a Hershey kiss."

This simple act of sweetness wrought
A miracle in a frozen heart.
Her wintry reign blossomed as spring
And still she rules, a well-loved queen.

Marshmallow World

It's been an eventful day.  No school for the third day in a row.  We're still getting a piling of snow on top of our pile of snow.  (Right, my friends in the northeast USA?)  Joshua lost his glasses playing in the snow.  The garage door got stuck open and the dog got into the trashcan.  And I wrote half a page of my latest novel.

 

And here are a few pictures I took a few weeks ago that I finally got off my camera.  Enjoy!

 

 

One twin

 

The other twin, Hannah, and Joshua.
Or maybe that's the first twin again...
Who knows?

 

 

I put a filter on this one
just so the snow would stand out more.

 

Beautiful People Linkup-- February 2015 edition

I've been participating in these linkups for a while but this is the first time I've published one.  This is always fun to do.  Each month these two blogs post ten questions to help you learn more about your character(s). If you'd like to try it, head on over to Paper Fury or Further Up and Further In.  Have fun reading!

Note:  I know my blog design's pretty messy right now.  Please excuse that-- I'm having some issues with blogger and it may take me a while to fix them.  Thanks! :)

 

Okay, so this is about two of my characters, Starr Spencer and Teddy (insert last name here).  Teddy still doesn't have a last name; I'm working on that.  They're in the book I've been working on for the past few months.  If you keep reading my blog, you'll get to know them very well in the next couple of weeks.

 Now, for the questions!

 

1. How long have they been a couple?

I'm not actually sure.  They met when Starr was 12 and Teddy was 13, and the book follows them through their teenage years.  They don’t like each other all this time-- actually they had quite a rivalry for most of it-- but they’ve been a couple in my mind since the first time I thought of them.

2. How did they first meet?

Teddy was a wild-haired orphan that Starr’s father caught sleeping in their barn and stealing eggs from the henhouse.  It was late at night when Mr. Spencer dragged the troublemaking Teddy into the kitchen by the ear, waking up the entire family.

3. What were their first thoughts of each other? (Love at first sight or "you're freakishly annoying"?)

Starr:  “Ugh.”

Teddy: “Ugh.”

4. What do they do that most annoys each other?

Starr is most annoyed by “that awful pipe” Teddy keeps smoking.  And his pranks!  Before he and Starr were friends, he used to help Starr’s brother hide small, unpleasant creatures in her room. (Toads, crickets, snakes, etc.)

Teddy is annoyed by Starr’s bossiness, and incessant attempts to civilize him. He likes running free.

5. Are their personalities opposite or similar?

They are both strong-willed and independent. On the other hand, Starr is more down-to-earth while Teddy is wild and carefree.  Starr takes things seriously; Teddy likes to joke around.

6. How would their lives be different without each other?

Starr would have drowned in Mr. Lantz's pond without Teddy.  
Teddy would have run away from the Spencer's  if he hadn’t thought it was fun to hang around and prank Starr.

7. Are they ever embarrassed of each other?

Yes.

8. Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?

Starr’s father disapproved of the match at first-- “She seems to be spending an awful lot of time with that boy”-- but once he realized Starr was growing up and that Teddy had, too, since he first came to Jessimon, Mr. Spencer relented a little. A little.

Oh, yes, and nasty little Velma Huffman.  She likes Teddy and abhors Starr.  (But Velma's opinion is not usually taken seriously.)

9. Do they see their relationship as long-term/leading to marriage?

Maybe.  Starr wants to be a doctor first.  Teddy-- towards the end, anyway-- just wants Starr to be happy, whether they marry or not.

10. If they could plan the "perfect outing" together, where would they go?

To the ocean. Neither one has ever seen the ocean.